Very sharp when stopped down. Even illumination across frame. Minimal distortion. Available for multiple systems. Affordable.

Cons

A bit soft at f/1.4. Manual focus design is not for everyone. Omits optical stabilization.

Bottom Line

The affordable, versatile Rokinon 85mm F1.4 AS IF UMC lens isn't the best performer at f/1.4, but it shines when stopped down.

The Rokinon 85mm F1.4 AS IF UMC ($399) proves you don't have to break the bank to get a wide-aperture 85mm prime lens, as long as you're willing to sacrifice autofocus. The 85mm focal length has long been a favorite of portrait photographers, and serves that purpose well on full-frame and APS-C cameras alike. Rokinon's take on the design shows some softness at f/1.4, but is crisp when stopped down, and offers a tactile, mechanical feel when adjusting focus. It's a solid value, especially when you consider that it regularly sells for less than its retail price. Our favorite affordable 85mm lens, the Editors' Choice Nikon AF-S Nikkor 85mm f/1.8G, is more expensive, but it supports autofocus and captures crisper images.

Editors' Note: This review is based on tests performed on the Samyang 85mm F1.4 AS IF UMC. Aside from the branding, the lenses are optically identical, and we expect similar performance.

DesignThe lens is compact when you consider its f/1.4 aperture. It measures 2.8 by 3.1 inches (HD), but is a bit heavy at 1.1 pounds and uses large 72mm front filters. It's sold under two brand names, and in two versions in each brand. We received the Samyang 85mm F1.4 AS IF UMC, which is the exact same lens that's sold under the Rokinon banner. There's also a cinema version available, with focus gears, dual t-stop aperture scales, and dual focus scales. It's sold as the Samyang 85mm T1.5 VDSLR AS IF UMC II and the Rokinon 85mm T1.5 Cine DS.

Regardless of the brand name and barrel style, the optics are the same. And Samyang sells the 85mm for every major camera system. You can get it for Canon, Four Thirds, Nikon, Pentax, or Sony SLRs, as well as for Canon, Fuji, Micro Four Thirds, Samsung, and Sony mirrorless cameras. The Nikon version of the lens, which we received for review, supports electronic aperture control, but other mounts only support mechanical aperture control. The lens is not optically stabilized, but it's not a feature that's usually found in 85mm prime lenses.

A reversible lens hood is included. It, and the lens barrel, are constructed from high-quality plastic. It feels similar to the material used in modern Nikon lenses, but it certainly doesn't match the feel of the metal barrel that you get with high-end lenses like the Zeiss Otus 1.4/85. The focus ring is finished with a raised texture and occupies the bulk of the barrel. It turns smoothly and offers a long throw for precise adjustment of focus—that's important for a lens that can capture images with an extremely shallow depth of field. The aperture diaphragm features an eight-blade design, which maintains a circular form as it is stopped down; expect a smooth out-of-focus area behind your subject, with circular highlights.

The lens focuses to 3.28 feet (1 meter), which is pretty typical for an f/1.4 85mm. The Zeiss Otus does focus closer—to 2.6 feet—but you pay a lot for that extra bit of magnification. Lenses that max out at f/1.8, like the Nikkor 85mm f/1.8G and the Zeiss Batis 85mm, do better than the Rokinon in terms of close focus, matching the Otus, but none are a substitute for a true macro lens with 1:1 reproduction capabilities like the Sony FE 90mm F2.8 Macro G OSS or the Nikon AF-S DX Micro-Nikkor 85mm f/3.5G ED VR. That said, those lenses don't capture nearly as much light when shot wide open. There are always trade-offs.

Image Quality and ConclusionsI used Imatest to see how sharp the lens is when paired with the 36-megapixel Nikon D810. At f/1.4 it scores 1,957 lines per picture height on a center-weighted sharpness test. That's better than the 1,800 lines that we normally look for in a photo, but we typically look at results from the high-resolution D810 with more scrutiny. While 1,800 lines would be an excellent result on a 16-megapixel sensor, and a very good one on a 24-megapixel one, it's noticeably soft in a 36-megapixel image. There's also some chromatic aberration at f/1.4—it's visible as purple-and-green color fringing in high-contrast areas of the frame, as well as in areas that are on either side of the plane of focus.

Stopping down to f/2 improves quality all around. The sharpness improves dramatically to 2,590 lines, with even performance from edge to edge. And there's steady improvement as you stop down further—2,631 lines at f/2.8, 2,749 at f/4, 3,051 at f/5.6, 3,454 at f/8, and 3,669 line at f/11. Diffraction robs some fidelity at f/16 (3,433 lines) and f/22 (2,856 lines). The Nikkor 85mm f/1.8G, which was also tested on the D810, puts up better numbers all around—it scores 2,598 lines at f/1.8, approaches 3,000 lines at f/2.8, and peaks at 3,779 lines at f/11.

The Rokinon shows no distortion. Illumination is fairly even from corner to corner at f/2 and narrower apertures. But at f/1.4 there is a some noticeable dimming at the edges (-1EV) and at the corners (-1.5EV). It's not dramatic and can be compensated for easily using software tools.

If you don't mind manual focus, the Rokinon 85mm F1.4 AS IF UMC is certainly a lens to consider. It's an excellent performer starting at f/2, and while its f/1.4 images show some softness, they're still quite useable. That's especially the case for portraiture, where a little bit of softness is desirable to draw your subject in a more pleasing manner. And at narrower apertures the lens is capable of razor-sharp results. It's priced around $400, but regularly sells for about $100 less, making it a pretty solid bargain option to boot. It's not the equal of our favorite affordable 85mm, the Editors' Choice Nikon AF-S Nikkor 85mm f/1.8G, but it's available for multiple camera systems, which can't be said of the Nikon.

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About the Author

Senior digital camera analyst for the PCMag consumer electronics reviews team, Jim Fisher is a graduate of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where he concentrated on documentary video production. Jim's interest in photography really took off when he borrowed his father's Hasselblad 500C and light meter in 2007. He honed his writing skills at re... See Full Bio

Rokinon 85mm F1.4 AS IF UMC

Rokinon 85mm F1.4 AS IF UMC

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